New Zealand to Refresh Three-Year-old Cybersecurity Strategy

The New Zealand government has decided to refresh its three-year-old Cyber Security Strategy and Action Plan in the backdrop of growing cyber attacks in the country.

The proposed plan has been penned by Clare Curran, country’s minister for Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media Minister.

The cyber attacks in New Zealand have significently increased over the last few years, and more than a third appear to be state-sponsored acts, Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) said in November last year.

“So it’s timely for us to step up New Zealand’s cybersecurity efforts so that we are not left vulnerable to cyber intrusion and to refresh the 2015 strategy so we can deal with increasingly bold, brazen, and disruptive threats,” Curran said.

New Zealand’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), in its Cyber Threat Report 2016-17, said there were 396 cybercrime incidents reported to it during the 12-month span, but the figure represented a very small proportion of the volume of cyber crime took place in the country.

“This government has committed to building a connected nation, promoting, and protecting digital rights. We intend to close the digital divides by 2020 and to make ICT the second largest contributor to GDP by 2025. A modern, responsive cybersecurity system is essential to this,” she wrote.

Cyber attacks in New Zealand have significently increased over the last few years, and more than a third appear to be state-sponsored acts

Curran held security issues of emerging technologies and widespread use of connected devices responsible for increasing cyber threats.

“The problems are growing, and it’s timely to look at what more can be done to improve New Zealand’s cyber defences,” she added.

The minister said the revisited action plan provides the government with an opportunity to assess the role of agencies in the fight against cybercrime.

“A refresh of the Cyber Security Strategy and Action Plan would enable us to test whether we are investing the right resources and structuring our efforts, in the right way, across protective security, civilian, military, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies to make the greatest improvement to the security of our digital infrastructure and communications,” she continued.

According to GCSB, Advanced cyber caused a loss of $600m to the significant organizations of New Zealand in the fiscal year 2016-17.

“We need to continue assessing whether we have the optimal arrangements and resources for effectively addressing cybersecurity efforts across government,” said Curran.